Liberal Democrat MP Berwick Upon Tweed Sir Alan Beith is speaking to the newly appointed Minister responsible for Post Offices, Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb, and urging him to ‘keep up the good work’ begun by Edward Davey to secure the Network for the future.

Under Ed Davey‘s leadership, the Coalition Government committed £1bn of extra funds to modernise the Post Office over the course of the next four years. The Government has also outlined plans for the Post Office to become the “Front Office” for government, offering council tax, parking and benefits services.

Alongside these plans, the Government is proposing to transform the Post Office into a co-operative which will give employees and local communities an ownership stake in the Post Office Network.

Commenting, Sir Alan Beith said: “Under the previous Labour Government, we saw many Post Offices closed in Northumberland, which was a huge blow to our local communities. On forming the Government in 2010, the Liberal Democrats made it clear that they would end Labour’s closure programme and invest in the Post Office Network to secure it for the future.

“With a Liberal Democrat Postal Affairs Minister in the UK Government, we have seen a strong commitment to Post Offices with £1billion of extra investment and plans to modernise and mutualise the Network.

“Ed Davey has now moved to the Department of Energy and Climate Change and Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb has been appointment as the Minister responsible for Post Offices. I am speaking to Norman to urge him to keep up the good work on Post Offices and emphasised how important they are for our local communities here in rural Northumberland.

“In North Norfolk, Norman Lamb also represents a scattered rural constituency and so he knows at firsthand how important Post Offices are.

“More that 20 million people across the UK use the Post Office every week and Post Offices are vital community services in rural areas. The ten year deal struck between Royal Mail and the Post Office will give sub-postmasters and other greater confidence in the future of the network, and the signs are really encouraging for the future.”